You've got to fight. For your right. To . . . hang your laundry?
Yes.
Glad to hear some others are turning this into a movement.
I guess one person's "trailer trash" is another person's treasure. I'd rather see clothes hanging on the lines than sterile cookie-cutter rows of suburban homes any day. But if sterility is your thing . . .
It is not simply a matter of aesthetics, though. Clothes drying by electric or gas dryer is an absurdity of the wildest proportion. According to the above article, it accounts for 6% of residential energy use. And the biggest issue is that it is simply not necessary. How in the world are we going to manage the world's resources better and potentially make some sacrifices if we can't eliminate something that is energy intensive and absolutely unnecessary? In all honesty, drying by nature doesn't take much more effort than drying in a dryer.
I restrict the use of clothes dryers to when I am in an urgent hurry or if weather conditions are so unfavorable that I have no other choice. Every so often some items can be fluffed up a bit, but more often than not they dry just fine by Mother Nature.
If I can't hang them outside, I have a large wooden drying rack inside. You can put one right next to your washing machine if the physical labor of carrying wet laundry is unmanageable. The only caveat is that I don't like to spend much time in the room where they are drying. Fumes from the detergents bother me, and I do question the health effects.
On hot summer days, a load of laundry can be bone dry in less than an hour hanging outside, and not much longer drying inside. Even on the murkiest, dampest days, it rarely takes longer than a day or two to dry anything. Putting an electric fan directed toward them can speed up the process with less energy inputs, and that is a better alternative than the dryer.
I don't understand at all why people have reservations about laundry hanging outside. It is simply too practical to avoid, in my opinion. Just dry your underwear inside, like the woman in the article does. What other problems can this possibly cause?
I cant believe people are fighting over this. When I see laundry hanging out, I think of pleasant things, not trailer trash! Personally, I don't use the dryer for most of my clothes because I am afraid they will shrink... too often, I've lost a good blouse or sweater or pair of pants because they shrunk in the dryer. And just look at the lint guard on any given day--all that stuff is coming off your clothes! The dryer is systematically dismantling your clothes! I cant help but wonder if this speeds up the process of destroying your clothes.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, though, my basement is pretty dry so I can hang my clothes by hangers from the rafters. And since I'm only cleaning clothes for me, it doesnt take up too much room.
I don't hang my underwear, though. I let the drier handle that. ;) As well as my socks and things hard to dry such as jeans.
HOAs are evil. They regulate everything from laundry lines and front door color, to whether or not your children can play on the front lawn, and when you have to remove your garbage can from the curb.
ReplyDeleteAny aesthetic thing you want to do to your home has to be approved - whether that's new landscaping or new drapes in your front window. And forget about leaving Christmas decorations up beyond their approved date.
Why anyone would purchase a home regulated by a dictatorship is beyond me.
I agree that seeing laundry hanging out to dry is a pleasant site, and if something that innocent is thought to lower property values, something is wrong with our values.
I agree with the both of you: Hanging fresh smelling sheets out in the summer sun just brings good thoughts and memories.
ReplyDeleteWow, no children playing in the front yards, either? I just figured they'd rather watch TV, never knew it was mandated by rules. Probably better off with the heavy pesticides they spray out there, but geez.
Cathryn, that's a great word for an HSA: dictatorship. I've only ever had one, when I lived in a condo. But that was different because there wasnt a whole lot of options you could do to a condo that would offend your neighbors. But we did have stupid rules... like you weren't allowed to put porch swings or chairs on your FRONT porch!! One of our neighbors had one was told he needed to remove it. It was okay in the "backyard" which was really a very small penned in cement space with a high fence. God forbid you use your front porch for anything other than something that looked nice at the front of your house...
ReplyDeleteThey also once voted on getting the building repainted... Because we never attended the HSA meetings, we had no say on the contractor they took on... and because I had an end unit (three "walls"), I had to pay $1,200 which I thought at the time was rather high. I mean, this condo was really only three levels and about 800 square feet total. It was small and I lived in there with my husband... We eventually would have bought a bigger house somewhere, that's for sure!
I'm appreciate your writing skill.Please keep on working hard.^^
ReplyDeleteYAY Frank! I woke up yesterday morning thinking about utility bills at CCW and was all set to come with the suggestion that we use the dryer as little as possible.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am with everyone else: I love the sight of laundry hanging out on a line. One of the things I miss most from my married days -
from my home-owning days - is having a line in my yard, at the edge of our small orchard and spending that time in the breezy sun, stretching, working. And then the sweet outdoor smell that I brought back into the house when I brought the dried clothing and linens back inside.
And isn't this argument symbolic of our cultural fear of anything less than excess (or least its appearance...)
Jean